Leaders told to cultivate peace among Indonesians

Leaders told to cultivate peace among Indonesians

Tiarma Siboro and Debbie A. Lubis, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Religious leaders and politicians urged influential figures to
restrain themselves from saying things that might sow hatred
among the different religious communities in the country, in an
endeavor to promote peace in society.

Solahuddin "Gus Solah" Wahid, deputy chairman of Indonesia's
largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), told all the
people of the country to promote dialog to maintain "social
relationships among religious communities."

According to Gus Solah, who is also deputy chairman of the
National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and the younger
brother of former president Abdurrahman Wahid, Islam has never
taught its followers to kill or to hate followers of other
religions due to their beliefs.

The enjoined the people to back the government to combat what
he called the nation's common enemies, namely poverty, injustice
and ignorance, instead of creating enmity among the different
religions.

"Religion should not make us enemies of one another. We should
fight against injustice, ignorance and poverty to improve
people's social welfare," he said.

Separately, Rusjdi Hamka, cochairman of the United Development
Party (PPP), said that it was high time for people from different
religions to promote peaceful behavior among themselves.

"We have no alternative other than to promote religious
tolerance and peace. Now, each party should implement their
religious teachings in their daily activities because all
religions aim at bringing peace to the earth," he told The
Jakarta Post.

For example, Rusjdi said, Muslims should implement the Koran's
Al-Haj chapter verse 40 in their daily life. The verse requires
them to protect the Jewish people, Christians, and others from
different religions.

"It underlines that Muslims are forbidden to destroy places of
worship like synagogues, churches and mosques because God's name
is invoked in those places. It also mentions the mosque last to
show that Islam teaches tolerance," he said.

Rusjdi believes that peace will be developed among people of
different religions if preachers do not speak disparagingly of
other religions in their sermons, arguing that "it will be a very
sensitive issue if the sermons always promote hatred toward the
followers of other religions.

The two figures were of the opinion that the emergence of
sectarian conflicts in certain regions and of extreme groups in
the society has a lot to do with an incomplete understanding by
the people of their own religion and the feeling of inferiority
among certain sects in religious communities.